Fabric disk wheel



' 1,631,928 June 7 1927. i J. H. DOTY FABRIC DISK WHEEL Filed Feb. 20.1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1,631,928 June 7 1927 J. H. DoTY FABRIC DISK WHEELFiled Feb. 20. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 UNITED STATES Patented June 7,1927.

:om: n. non, or Anon; omo.

nismo msx WHEEL.

Application Med February 20, 1925. Serial No. 10,590;

This invention relates to vehicle wheels and it particularly pertains towheels of the so-called disk type that .are partlcularly ada ted for useon automotive vehlcles.

arious forms of disk wheels have previously been roposed that compr1sedopposed disksof) metal or laminated wood or the like. The presentinvention differs from this ractice in that it contemplates forming adis wheel from a pair of disk members of pliable material. The inventionalso contemplates a method of forming such a wheel in which the body ordisk portion of the wheel is of laminated fabric that is preferably sotensioned as to suspend the hub porton of the wheel under load.

Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings is` Fi 5 is a lateralcross-sectional view of.

the rlm and felly portion of the wheel shown in Fig. 4, takensubstantially' on line 5-5 thereof, with parts broken awa and v Fig. 6is a lateral cross-sectional vlewY of a modified form of wheel diskembodying my invention. y

The disk wheel shown in the accompanying drawings embodies a pair ofyopposed disk elements 1 and 2 that are spaced at their center portionsby means of a hub member 3 and are drawn together at their periphery to`operative engagement with a felly band 4 by means of suitable transversebolts 5. Figs. 2 and 3 are separate views of one of the disk elementscorresponding to elements 1 and 2 of Fig. 1.

Particularly referring to Fig. 3 of the drawings, each of the iskportions 1 and 2 comprises a bead portion 10, that constitutes the hubsupporting portion of the" wheel,. an outer bead portion 11, that,supports the felly 4, and an intermediate sup'- porting d isk 12 ofsuperposed layers of fabric, that connects the bead elements 10 and 11..

The body of each of the disk elements is Of fabric that,

formed of a plurality of superposed la ers are preferably suitablyrictloned with rubber or otherwise treated with a flexible binder andassembled in fan-wise formation. The disk portion 12 is enlar ed at itsouter edge portion by interposin bric washers 13 between the successivelayers of the material making up the body of the dlsk 12, in order toprovide the bead portion 11 which extends around the outer periphery ofthe -disk and serves as an anchoring bead for the various layers offabric making up the disk. A pair of supporting plates 14 and 15, whichrespectively have inwardly turned ianges 16 and 17 along their innermostedges, are preferably permanentl vulcanized to the bead portion 11l ofthe disk. The bead portion 10 of each disk is also enlarged byinterposing suitable annular washers or fabric elements 18 betweensuccessive layers 9 of the body of the metal disks 19 and 20, preferablyhaving their respective rim portions bent toward each other, are mountedon each side of the bead portion 10 and preferably securely vulcanizedthereto.

A disk for a vehicle wheel of the type herein considered may be formedby any conventional process or the metal disk members 14, 15, 19 and 20may be assembled with the finished disk structure in order to supportthe outer and inner marginal edge portions of the disk elements. 1f itis not desired that the enlarged bead portions 10'and 11 be used, thenthe metal disk elements 14, 15, 19 and 20 may b e replaced by plainannular disks 25, 26, 27 and 28 as shown in Fig. 6.

Although vehicle wheels of this general form may be constructed fromeither crosswoven fabric or from so-called cord fabric, it is preferredthat the separate disk elements be formed from cord fabric having 'thewarp elements thereof grouped in fan-wise formation, in order that thedistortion of the disk may be substantially the same in all directionsand in order that the vehicle wheel disk will have the same loadsupporting capacity for all positions of the wheel. The same suggestedfan-wise construction may also be used if the disk elements are formedof cross-woven fabric.

In view of the fact that the material from which a disk wheel of theabove designated character is formed is of pliable character, it isadvisable to tension that material in order to obtain `the mostdesirable load sup-A disk. A pair of sioning results in suspending theload that is imposed by the vehicle on the hub of the Wheel from theupper portion of the wheel felly, without entirely relieving the tensilestress that is initially imposed in the fabric of the lower portion ofthe Wheel. The tensioninv of the pliable material, fromwhich the wlieelis formed, also serves to prevent any permanent displacement of thefelly band relative to the hub of the wheel:l while permittin relativeyielding of the Wheel under sudden lateral impact. The wheel thereforeposcsses all of the very desirable characteristics of resilient diskwheels that have heretofore been roposed and in addition is of lighterweiglit and of more iiexble character than Wheels of laminas of wood orother material.

In wheels of the character that I have herein described, the material ofthe disk portion of the wheel may be relatively thin and adequatelysupport the load that is imposed upon it. In fact, the structure of thedisk portion of thewheel corresponds closely to the structure of thesidewall-of a so-called balloon tire or tires of like description thatare used on automobiles at the present time.

It should also be understood that the bead portion of the disk is notnecessarily enlarged to the degree shown in the drawing. Thefunction ofthis portion of the disk is to provide means for adequately anchoringthe inner and outer edge portions of each of the disks with therespective supporting hub and fellyyof the wheel. It may, therefore, beadequate to merely vulcanize suitable metal disks 25 and 26, as shown inF' 6, directly to the Wheel disk in order t at, when the disk istensioned, the disk portion 29 of the wheel will be tensioned'betweenthe inner anchoring disks 25 and 26 and the outer anchoring disks 27 and28, as shown in Fig. 6.

Vehicle wheels of this general type are formed by arranging a pair ofdisk elements 1 and 2, of identical form, in opposed relation on eachside of the hub spacer element 3. The disks are preferably formed withonly a slight degree of cup ing or concavity, as shown in Fig. 2. henthe peripheral bead portions 11 of the disks are drawn together incooperative relation with the felly band by suitable bolts 5 that extendthrough both of the bead portions 11, the disk portions 12 of theseparate disk elements 1 and 2 are thereby tensioned to any desireddegree, depending upon the degree of concavity originally imparted tothe disk elements and the length of the spacer 'signed my name.

tain the outer edge portions of the disk ele ments 1 and 2 in abuttinrelation.

A wheel of the type s own in the figures of the drawings is mounted onthe conventional form of automotive vehicle, not

shown, in any conventional or convenient manner. The felly band 4 of thewhcel, which is of conventional type,l serves to detachably support apneumatic tire-sup orting rim 31, that is detachably secured t ereon bymeans of a conventional wedge ring 32, clamps 33 and clamping bolts 34,as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

Although I have described my invention as applied to a ydisk wheelcomprising disk elements which are formed of superposed layers offabric, it is obvious that my invention comprehends other forms ofpliable disk material that may be employed 1n this general manner andthat may be suitably tensioned between the hub and the felly portions ofthe vehicle Wheel. The disk portion of the wheel may also obviously beformed of superposed layers of metal fabric or other materia havingreinforcing strands or iibers extending therethrough.

What I claim is:

1. A vehicle wheel-comprising a vulcanized body portion formed of twoopposed outwardly convergent disk portions, each of said portions beingcomposed of superposed plies of rubberized fabric vulcanized to form acomposite body, the warp elements of the fabric composing said pliesbeing groupml in fan-wise formation.

2. A vehicle wheel comprising a vulcanized body formed of a palr of`similar disk elements each composed of superposed plies of vrubberizedfabric vulcanized to form a composite body, and spacing members placedbetween the Flies near the hub and felly portions thereo 3. A vehiclewheel comprising a vulcanized body formed of a pair of similar diskelements composed of superposed plies of rubberized fabric, havingenlarged bead portions formed by the insertion of laminated fabricspacing members between the plies.

In witness whereof, I havel hereunto JHN H. vDofrr.

within the central

